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Deep Fear
Deep Fear (ディープフィアー Dīpu Fiā) is a 1998 survival horror video game developed by Sega AM7 and System Sacom for the Sega Saturn. The game offers unique gameplay features such as buttons that allow the player to use items in real-time, aiming while moving, and falling oxygen levels. The music was composed by Kenji Kawai, and the creatures and characters were designed by manga artist Yasushi Nirasawa. Gameplay The game takes place 300 meters below the surface of the Pacific Ocean in a naval fueling and research facility known as "Big Table" (SSB-01). Players assume the role of John Mayor, an ex-Navy SEAL who has joined forces with a civilian rescue organisation called Emergency Rescue Service (ERS). Players move John through the pre-rendered rooms of the Big Table which are shown from fixed camera angles using a permanent 3D control scheme. Players can turn on or off certain on-screen indicators such as an oxygen counter, health meter and bullet count. Once armed, players can move using the D-pad and can run while aiming a firearm. The game fully utilizes the Saturn's six-button controller, allowing players to have instant access to a map screen as well as real-time use of grenades and health items, which may be used without resorting to the inventory screen. The Big Table's oxygen supply is dwindling. Therefore, one necessity for survival is to refill low oxygenated areas and thus avoid asphyxiation. Overuse of firearms depletes the oxygen more quickly. In some areas, oxygen can be replenished (an unlimited number of times) by finding yellow oxygen boxes known as Air System (AS). When the player has a regulator, an AS allows him to refill it. If the player is not using the oxygen level indicator, a red emergency light will indicate a low oxygen level. Low oxygen level rooms will appear in red on the player's map. Oxygen grenades can be used to replenish low oxygen level rooms or hallways. If the player is not near an AS or lacks oxygen grenades, they can use a regulator to breathe in low oxygen areas and in flooded areas. Each room entrance has two doors with a vacuum system between them; this ensures that a flooded room will not leak outside the room. Similarly to Resident Evil, players must draw their weapon with one button and fire it with a different one. The player can move while armed and automatically lock on to enemies by depressing the aim button. There is an option for the player to switch manually between targets. The Big Table has a large supply of ammunition for a number of different weapons. The weapons and ammunition are located in the weapon storage rooms. However, security is maintained and so some weapons can only be accessed by important individuals in The Big Table. The player obtains these weapons by securing the appropriate weapon storeroom pass-cards. Summary A small capsule from space has landed near The Big Table. It contains a chimpanzee who was launched into space forty years before the start of the game, as part of an experiment about the effects of cosmic radiation on a living creature. The cosmic radiation caused the chimp to undergo a mutation whereby its metabolism slowed and it went into hibernation. Commander Clancy assigns Gena Weisburg to unravel the mystery of the chimp so the same effect may be used to allow humans to travel into deep space. The Sea Fox, a small but fast nuclear submarine, has been dispatched to refuel at The Big Table and investigate the capsule. The Sea Fox crashes into the base at a part called the Navy Area, The Big Table's top secret research facility. Ignoring the high security level of the Navy Area, the base commander calls in a SEAL team as a primary rescue force, and also sends the ERS to extract an important doctor. Hostile mutants in The Big Table are troublesome: human beings (both living and undead) are being transformed into grotesque creatures that kill. The hostile mutants are weakened by high levels of oxygen and so they try to destroy The Big Table's oxygen generators. The mutation creating the hostile mutants is the result of the effect of cosmic radiation on common bacteria. John Mayor, who is afflicted with a cold, is unaffected by the infectious mutation and must try to rescue The Big Table's occupants and escape. Plot Disc 1 The intro shows a mysterious space pod reentering Earth's atmosphere, parachuting down to the Pacific Ocean. Having tracked down the pod's last known coordinates, the Navy sent the nuclear-powered submarine, SEA FOX, to retrieve it. After successfully retrieving the pod, SEA FOX immediately sets course for the underwater facility, Big Table. The game jumps to focus on the main protagonist, John Mayor, an ERS operative who had just been assigned to the Big Table. John was suddenly called away by his partner, Mookie Carver, for an emergency at the E-Pool. The emergency turned out to be just an April Fool's prank plotted by both Mookie and freelance photographer, Sharon State, much to John's unamusement. Meanwhile, as the SEA FOX detaches itself from the Navy Area, the crew are attacked by unknown assailants and causes the submarine to crash into the base. John is called away by facility's commander, Clancy Dawkins, who orders John to rescue the Navy Area's personnel, particularly head researcher, Dr. Gena Weisburg. Using the submersible, Little Shark, both John and Mookie enter the Navy Area to look for survivors. The two eventually found an injured survivor who pleads John to kill him. Confused by the man's request, the survivor immediately mutates into a grotesque creature. Mookie runs off in fear, while John was forced to put down the creature. John regrouped with Mookie and the two proceeded further into the Navy Area, running into more creatures. John was eventually able to locate Dr. Weisburg and her chimpanzee, Anthony, both alive and well. John and Mookie regains control of the Navy Area and had it docked to the Big Table. John and the others enter the Docking Area where they are greeted by foreman, Danny Reynolds. Dr. Weisburg departs in haste, while John explains to Danny about the creatures and orders him to have the Navy Area be quarantined. John reports back to Commander Clancy and confronts him about the creatures, suspecting them to be biological weapons, though Clancy denies these claims. The two are suddenly contacted by the Control Deck, informing them that the stranded SEA FOX is preparing to launch a torpedo. John and Clancy immediately head for the Control Deck, witnessing the torpedo hit the Air Unit Area. Though area remained intact due to the safety system, it was still damaged from the hit, causing the base's air supply to dwindle. Shortly after, the SEA FOX prepares to launch it's entire arsenal of Poseidon Missiles at the Air Unit Area. Suspecting it to be the work of terrorists and with the incoming SEALs team still far away to reach the base in time, Commander Clancy orders John instead to infiltrate and deactivate the SEA FOX's missiles due to his past experience as a SEALs operative. John and Mookie once again head out and successfully infiltrated the downed submarine. Upon entering, John discovers a lone survivor who he instructs to evacuate to Little Shark, while he proceeded further to stop the missiles. John eventually finds the SEA FOX's Captain Dallas Silver, injured from the initial attack. Dallas instructs John to locate the Missile Control Key to stop the Poseidon Missiles from launching. After retrieving the key, John regroups with Captain Dallas, only to discover that he has been mutated as well and was forced to put him down. Using his and Dallas' Control Keys, John successfully deactivated the missiles. Unfortunately, a section of the SEA FOX had just exploded, causing the submarine to descend to the trench below. John manages to escape in time by launching himself out from the torpedo hatch and was rescued by Mookie. With their mission complete, the two head back to the CCD Area only to be informed that the E-Pool had already been occupied by the SEALs' DSRV and they forced to dock at the Medical I. Area's E-Pool instead. Shortly after arriving, John exits Little Shark. However, the SEA FOX survivor they had rescued mutates into a creature and kills Mookie, causing Little Shark to descend into the ocean floor. Distraught by Mookie's death, John is contacted by Commander Clancy who orders him to return to the CCD Area and rescue any survivors along the way as the creatures have now infested the Big Table. John eventually runs into Gena, who is trapped as well due to the Air System being damaged and learns that a parasitic bacteria, dubbed the Parasite Cell, is responsible for mutating the Big Table's personnel. Suspecting that John might be infected as well, Gena draws some blood samples for tests, only to discover that John is in fact immune to the Parasite Cell due to the cold virus he had contracted. Gena also discovers that the Parasite Cell is susceptible to oxygen and proposes that the Big Table should be filled with enough air to eradicate the bacteria. After restoring the Air System, Gena opens the door that leads to the Apartment Area, allowing John to proceed further while Gena stays behind to gather her research. As John enters the Apartment Area, he is attacked by new types of creatures. Fortunately, he is saved by, Anna Lawrenson, a deep-sea diver employed by Dynamic Network. With the area lock broken, John asks Anna for assistance, but she is preoccupied looking for her pet bulldog, Rambo. John manages to locate Rambo and gains Anna's trust. John proposes that they should evacuate to the CCD Area, only for Anna to turn him down due to her distrust with the Navy and instead hands him her key, which grants him access to the D. Network Area. The two part ways and John continues on his journey, eventually running into Ken Fujiyama, a Japanese businessman in possession of the torch John requires to open the area lock. Fujiyama refuses to hand over the torch and proposes to John that in exchange for it, he would need to first gather data on the Big Jim diving suit. After gathering the data, John exchanges it for the torch and finally returns to the CCD Area. Upon entering, John is held at gunpoint by a heavily armed man, who reveals himself to be a member of the Navy SEALs team. John eventually meets up with Commander Clancy and the SEALs team's leader who is revealed to be Colonel McCoy, John's former superior. John warns them to evacuate the Big Table before the situation escalates, but Clancy cuts him off from any further involvement. John is reunited with Sharon and Gena, who had just evacuated to the CCD Area. John reveals to Gena that he is dismayed by Colonel McCoy's presence because he is the brother of his late fiancée, Stella, and that John confesses that he hold himself responsible for Stella's death. Unable to face McCoy, John choose to discharge himself from the SEALs and joined the ERS. Shortly after, John is called away by the Big Table's designer, DuBois Amalric, helping him to spy on Clancy's meeting with the SEALs. The two learn that McCoy and his team plan to lure the creatures to the Air Unit Area, using their weakness to oxygen as an advantage and stage an ambush. DuBois warns John that battling in the Air Unit Area will cause a pressure buildup that would result in the Big Table collapsing. John goes to warn Clancy, but it was already too late as the SEALs team had already departed and that they have lost contact with them. John heads for the Docking Area and boards the underwater gondola, Argonaut, to reach the Air Unit Area. Upon arriving, John discovers that the SEALs team has been wiped out by the creatures, but found no signs of Colonel McCoy. John eventually faces off against a mutated mouse and after defeating it, notices a bomb already set to detonate. John manages to escape in time and the Air Unit Area is destroyed in the explosion. The area's air supply leaks into the ocean and expands into giant air bubbles that reached the surface, bursting right under the Naval ship, Eldridge, causing it to shake uncontrollably. A chain reaction followed suit when one of the Eldridge's docked Harriers plunged into the ocean depths. The Harrier sank and eventually crashed into the Energy Unit Area, causing a power outage. John returns to the Docking Area and learns from Danny that Colonel McCoy made it back as well, but left abruptly despite his injuries. John is suddenly contacted by Clancy, who orders him to return immediately. Disc 2 John reports back to Commander Clancy, who confides to him that he despised the Big Table and it was because of his demotion that led him to become the facility's commander due to a mistake in the past; Clancy sank a passenger ship he mistook for an enemy vessel. He later informs John that the Energy Unit Area is currently in danger of facing a meltdown and that their only option is to escape using the SEALs' DSRV. Clancy then orders him to gather all the Big Table's remaining survivors to the CCD Area. John goes to warn the survivors of the impending meltdown and have them evacuate to the CCD Area, but each of them decline his offer for various reasons. Danny distrusts Clancy and instead plans on using the Navy Area to escape. He also reveals to John that Clancy had in fact intentionally sank the passenger ship despite warnings from Danny, who himself served under Clancy in the past. Sharon wants to set the dolphins in the Sea Farm Area free, but has difficulty to do so due to the power outage and it would take some time. Gena refuses to leave until Anthony is found. Unable to convince any of the survivors, John chooses to try and stop the meltdown by going to assist DuBois in the Energy Unit Area. After assisting Danny to reopen the D. Network Area's area lock, John goes to find Anna to ask for her help to reach the Energy Unit Area as it requires the Big Jim diving suit, which Anna has access to. John finds Anna, who is apparently sick from a cold, and the two head for the boarding room. They found that all of the Big Jim suits have been taken, except for one spare suit, which is missing it's oxygen tank. With the Big Jim parts room flooded due to a crack in the wall, John once again returns to the Navy Area to retrieve the Gum-gun in order to seal the crack. John succeeds and goes back to regroup with Anna, only to discover that she has been mutated by the Parasite Cell. John is forced to put her down and takes her license card, granting him access to the Big Jim. Unbeknownst to John, the mutated Anna had survived their battle and escaped to the air ducts. John enters the Connection Park Area and along the way found Fujiyama's corpse, still inside a Big Jim suit. John reaches the Energy Unit Area and meets up with DuBois, who explains to him that the reactor core's coolant water is trapped due to the damage caused by the sunken Harrier and requires them to release it. With the valve stuck in resin, their only option is to destroy the coolant tank. John enters the nearby storage room to collect the C4 explosive, but to his surprise also found Colonel McCoy there who is halfway mutated by the Parasite Cell. Still retaining his consciousness, McCoy reconciles with John regarding Stella's death and hands him his pistol. As John leaves, McCoy sets of his own explosives, killing himself before he could fully transform into a creature. John's Big Jim suit is damaged in the blast, but he was able to reach the Energy Unit Area in time before the suit was finally rendered inoperable. With the explosives set, DuBois sets it off, flooding the reactor core with coolant fluids. DuBois opens the Sea Bed Tunnel Area's gate as their escape path, but chooses to stay behind, revealing that he has been infected with the Parasite Cell. Credits Main article: Deep Fear/credits Cast Trivia *Deep Fear became the last Sega Saturn game to be released in Europe, at a point where Nintendo 64 had already replaced Sega's 32 bit as the direct rival of PlayStation. Sega started focusing on the Japanese market. *The Parasite Cell creatures were designed by the late manga artist, Yasushi Nirasawa, known for his work on various tokusatsu/metal heroes shows, particularly the Kamen Rider series. **Ironically, Deep Fear was featured in one of the commercials of Sega Saturn's mascot, Segata Sanshiro, who is portrayed by actor Hiroshi Fujioka, known for his portrayal as Takeshi Hongo, the first Kamen Rider. *Deep Fear was the last game co-director, Kunihiro Shirahata, worked on and was the start of his 19 year hiatus from video game. He would return to work on the 2017 game, Hey! Pikmin. *Deep Fear's co-director, Hiroyuki Maruhama, would go on to work on Dino Crisis 3. *Deep Fear's screenwriter, Yuzo Sugano, went on to write and direct another survival horror title, Extermination, for the Playstation 2. *Though the summary of Deep Fear implies that the game started immediately after the opening intro, it actually took place four months after the intro. As mentioned in several files found in the game, Anthony's pod was retrieved on January 5th and Dr. Weisberg studied the Parasite Cell from February to March. By the time the player(s) took control of John, Mookie stated that it was already April Fools' Day, which is commemorated on April 1st. *The plot of Deep Fear shares similarities to the 1989 science-fiction film, Leviathan, where the crew of an underwater mining facility discovered a Soviet shipwreck that carried a deadly pathogen that started to transform the crew into hideous mutant creatures. *Coincidentally, Deep Fear's English voice cast features both Wayne Doster and Matthew Meersbergen, who previously worked together on Mega Man 8 and X4. Gallery File:Deep_Fear_box1.png| File:Deep_Fear_back_cover.jpg| File:Deep_Fear_box2.png| File:Deep_Fear_Europe_back_cover.jpg| File:Deep_Fear_US_cover.jpg| Category:Deep Fear